8 tips for finding student housing

The return is approaching and you still have not found the place where you will live during your studies. From roommate to studio to farm, here is a set of original and affordable accommodation solutions.
Outside of the classic ad websites, a series of sometimes original initiatives are set up to help you find your future nest. Put the odds on your side!

1. Intergenerational housing

More and more known, this type of accommodation is based on a principle of mutual aid. An elderly person offers a young person a free room or low rent, in exchange for a presence and services. "I have to take on small tasks, such as picking up mail and watering flowers or helping her with her computer," says Sylwia, a music therapy student at the University of Montpellier (34). She shares her daily life with Simone, 83, for a monthly rent of 250 €. "An association puts us in contact with people with whom we have common interests, for me: cooking and Italian." Only downside for her: "I must pay attention to the noise in the late evening."

2. The platform of your school

Some schools or universities publish offers for their students on a dedicated web platform.

3. The discovery of the ideal roommate

If it is sometimes better to share a room with an acquaintance, we can also choose to go elsewhere. To help students find the roommate of their dreams, more and more organize "roommates dating" that allow candidates to meet and check if it "match". Websites also specialize in this research.

4. Solidarity roommates

The "Kaps" system allows young people under the age of 30 to benefit from a rented flat share flat in exchange for volunteering in so-called "popular" neighborhoods, where they live. A deal, organized by AFEV (Student Foundation Association for the city), which all the more seduces that the rent does not exceed 200 € and that the guarantees are less demanding than in the private.

5. Container habitat

In Le Havre (76), maritime containers were recycled and completely reconditioned to be transformed into housing, gathered in a student residence with unusual structure. The 25-square-meter studios house around one hundred students for € 329 per month. Each apartment is isolated, soundproofed, equipped with a wifi connection, and many have a view of the port.
Located in Bègles, on the outskirts of Bordeaux (33), the Habitat21 residence also offers accommodation in containers. The approach here is entirely ecological. In addition to recycling the container in housing, the residence uses solar panels and recovers rainwater. We can even lend you a bike.

6. Farm accommodation

Another unusual accommodation solution: a studio on a farm. These studios, T1 or T2, from 21 to 40 square meters, are located in a perimeter of 15 minutes maximum by car from the university campus. So it is better to have the license and a car, even if a carpooling system is set up. Exchanges are developing with the owners, who can lend repair equipment or a bike, for example. The accommodations are housed in an independent farmhouse building.

7. The home for young workers

In training, alternation or first job? Young workers' homes have very diverse profiles, for short or medium term. The diversity of the inhabitants of the home, including foreign students, makes it an attractive social place. However, promiscuity can sometimes be embarrassing when you have to share the same sanitary or when the rooms are poorly soundproofed.
Similar tip: homes or student homes. Places are also rare, some twenty establishments exist in Paris and about sixty in the region. Managed by associations (most religious) that offer single or double rooms, these houses are often reserved for girls. The cost of a room: from 350 €. The pleasant setting is combined with a life in a regulated community (cooking, cleaning, schedules,…)

8. A room in vacant premises

An illegal practice? No, since it is framed. France authorized it in 2011 through the introduction of a system "to ensure the protection and preservation of vacant premises by occupation by temporary residents Temporary residents do not pay more than 200 € per month, charges included The main constraint of a vacant dwelling: it is a temporary occupation whose duration is unknown. The resident receives a month's notice for his departure. A mode of accommodation to avoid if you want a long rental. vacant housing is also "to live an adventure, because they are located in atypical places: castle, office, hospital ..." The residents live in community, often share the kitchen and sanitary, but have a very large room where it is tempting to have parties ... Unfortunately, we can invite only two people to the maximum!